Tag Archives: air force

Soldier Tried to Join ISIS, but Only Christians are Threats

Last month, the Los Angeles Times (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) noted that an Illinois National Guard Soldier was arrested in the Chicago airport as he attempted to leave the country to join ISIS:

Hasan [Edmonds] told the [undercover] agent he had been a member of the U.S. Army National Guard for three years, and had converted to Islam at some point during that time, according to the criminal complaint.

…The cousins met with a second undercover FBI agent and discussed an assault on the base where Hasan Edmonds had been training, the complaint said.

The article notes this isn’t the first time a Read more

Congressman Collins Backs Fired Navy Chaplain Modder

A variety of media outlets continue to cover the story of Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder, who was removed from his unit after complaints that he made offensive statements in counseling.

At the Daily Signal, Kelsey Harkness notes there are actually two chaplains facing sanction right now. Besides Modder, Army Chaplain (Capt) Joe Lawhorn was also punished for telling personal stories involving his faith; his story has faded somewhat from the press, but it is still ongoing.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the only U.S. congressman to also serve as an Air Force Reserve chaplain, believes the military has gone too far in punishing Modder and others like him.

“It’s First Amendment rights for a reason,” Collins told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “Not because you agree with it.”

Rep Collins went further, repeating Read more

Linell Letendre Named USAFA Law Department Head (Video)

USAF LtCol Linell Letendre has been named as a new permanent professor to “lead the law department” for the US Air Force Academy:

“Lt. Col. Letendre’s selection for permanent professor indicates the trust placed in her by those who lead our nation,” said Brig. Gen. Andrew Armacost, the Academy’s dean of the faculty. “Her impeccable record of service and dedication to education will strengthen the Academy and nation as we strive to develop leaders of character.”

Ordinarily such a staffing decision hardly rates notice, much less an official press release, but the status of permanent professor at a military academy requires Senate approval and bestows a permanent rank of Colonel, making it somewhat notable.

Potentially more notable, however, are LtCol Letendre’s unique qualifications. Far from being an unknown JAG, Letendre has become a veritable “go to” legal officer in cases involving religion or homosexuality (or both).
LtCol Linell Letendre
In 2007, she and retired US Army Major David Fitzkee (also a USAFA law professor) co-authored a paper in the Air Force Law Review entitled “Religion in the Military: Navigating the Channel Between the Religion Clauses“. This paper was called a “definitive work” on the subject. As noted previously, Fitzkee wrote an abridged and updated version of this same article in 2012, and both works contained strong positive and strong negative statements on regarding military religious freedom.

Their paper was subsequently published again in Attitudes Aren’t Free, a collection put together by then-LtCol James Parco (an avowed supporter of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and frequent critic of Christians in the US Air Force).

Letendre was also the legal advisor to US Army General Carter Ham while he was co-chair of the controversial Comprehensive Review Working Group tasked to assess the impact of repealing the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Letendre’s advice Read more

Air Force Closes Door on Mikey Weinstein

The American Family Association recently highlighted the prior story about the Air Force re-issuing its Weinstein Guidance — essentially slamming the door on activist Michael “Mikey” Weinstein.

Notably, Weinstein himself seems to have provided evidence the door really was shut — across the Air Force.

On Monday, 23 March, Weinstein distributed an “open letter” demanding that Col Mark Slocum — commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC — stop saying his Airmen were “doing the Lord’s work over there.”

Yes, Mikey Weinstein really had a problem with that euphemism, claiming Col Slocum’s use of “this unlawful phrase” placed him

in violation of [his] oath to the United States Constitution and USAF Instructions…

Weinstein demanded a reply, post haste:  Read more

Congress Questions Navy’s Treatment of Chaplain Modder

Members of Congress have written a letter (PDF) to the Secretary of the Navy asking for details on why US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder is facing adverse action for his religious beliefs [emphasis added]:

Our understanding is that Chaplain Modder’s commanding officer has requested that Chaplain Modder be Detached for Cause after a Sailor at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command complained about Chaplain Modder’s views on pre-marital sex and homosexuality…

These beliefs on sexual intimacy do not constitute a legally viable reason to bring action against Chaplain Modder or any member of the military… It is dangerous to fall prey to the fundamentally false proposition that individuals who support natural marriage can only be motivated by animus for others.

Realize that these are the members of Congress who wrote the law they are now explaining to the Navy. They’re telling the Navy Read more

Critics Falsify Congressman’s “So Help Me God” Bill

Several critics — primarily on the liberal-leaning, anti-religious freedom side — have laid into US Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Tx) for his “Preserve and Protect God in Military Oaths Act of 2015” — and it is abundantly clear that none of them actually read the proposed bill.

Most of the critics portrayed the act as some version of requiring enlisting military members to “pledge to God” during their military oaths — something that recalls issues with the US Air Force and Air Force Academy in 2013. One employee of the Air Force Academy summed up much of the criticism when he tweeted to the Congressman (thick with irony):

What part of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” did you miss, sir?

You are in Congress. You are sponsoring a bill to establish Christianity as a state religion. Have you READ the Constitution?

— Phoenix Blue (@Phoenix_Blue) March 23, 2015

Similarly, an astonishingly ignorant Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed Read more

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